Tekken 8 Fans Outraged at Season 2 Changes, Pros Consider Quitting, Steam Reviews Plummet

The Tekken 8 community has erupted in anger following the Season 2 update, which introduced a series of changes that many fans consider controversial. According to the patch notes, there was an across-the-board increase in character damage potential and offensive pressure, leading to widespread complaints that the game has deviated too far from the classic Tekken experience.

Professional Tekken player JoKa expressed his frustration, stating that the Season 2 update makes the game feel unrecognizable. "Characters getting buffed even in the slightest is not the way, along with more stance-based transitions where 50/50 situations are enhanced. Some of the new moves added are insane with little to no counterplay. Characters getting their weaknesses patched and identities being removed by homogenization is lazy balancing. Oki being gutted and heat just getting buffed makes no sense. Combo damage is too much across the whole roster. I definitely think the sidesteps are better but does that really matter when moves exist with crazy tracking/hitboxes? Chip damage is still excessive with most heat smashes remaining the same. Removing strategy in favor of more 50/50 situations isn't interesting gameplay and is moving away from the foundation of Tekken. Where are the defensive options that were mentioned?"

T8 now hit the most negative reviews in a day since the day the Tekken Shop launched one year ago
byu/YourGameTVlol inTekken

.reddit-embed-wrapper iframe { margin-left: 0 !important; }As expected, players have taken to Tekken 8’s Steam page to voice their frustrations. Over the past two days, the game has received more than 1,100 negative reviews, resulting in a 'mostly negative' user review rating for recent reviews. One of the 'most helpful' reviews states, "Genuinely good game held back by schizophrenic insane developers sent from hell." Another player wrote, "New season dropped and they made every character into a braindead easy mix up machine without a single buff to defense." A third review criticizes the balance team, saying, "After promising changes to open up defensive options, the balance team has doubled down on extremely powerful offense that takes away all agency from the defending player." Yet another review laments, "Not every character needs to be able to force 50/50 canned mixups constantly, but it seems like the balance team doesn't have any other ideas for how to build characters at this point. It's just a shame to see another legacy fighting game become entirely defined by character offense and situations with little to no response from the defender."

The backlash has been so intense that some Tekken fans are abandoning the game in favor of Capcom's Street Fighter 6. Others are labeling Season 2 as the "worst patch in Tekken history," with professional players threatening to leave Tekken 8 entirely. One such player, Jesandy, expressed their despair on social media, saying, "I don't know if I'll continue playing Tekken if this patch stays. I'm sorry for doomposting, but I thought it had a chance to be a better game. I'm just really sad. Like depressed. I streamed 70 hours of Tekken this past week to prep for s2 just to have those hopes shattered. Gn."

The community is now eagerly awaiting a response from the development team to address these complaints. Some are calling for the patch to be rolled back entirely, while others are hoping for an emergency follow-up patch to make crucial adjustments.